NOVEL NEXT Chapter 86: Killing Upon Killing 3
This made the fourth level Body Foundation enemy show a look of shock, never expecting that a mere Golden Blockade that almost every qi cultivator at the second realm could use to a simple degree would be as sturdy as this. His entire arm was aching severely, and if it was not for his strong body, it might have been smashed into blood mist from the recoil alone.
"Now, now, don't be in a rush. You have to first and foremost secure your own lives before you can even think about saving anyone else's, don't you think?" Li Ling pointed out teasingly, standing at the entrance of the cave with his hands behind his back.
Yet in the eyes of the five second realm body cultivators, it was as if they were facing an immovable wall that completely blocked their path of escape!
"What do you want, young man?" A slightly tanned older man with deep-set eyes and a scraggly beard stepped forward to ask, his tone carrying a natural authority that came from ruling others for a long time.
｢Name: Huo Yang
Status: Healthy.
Age: 153/300
Slaughter Points Value: 80
Cultivation Base: Body Foundation level 8 (98%)
Remarks: The Sect Master of the Fire Heart Sect, Huo Yang is a tough character who has performed countless atrocities to get to where he is today. However, he only established this retreat not out of fear for his life, but because he was entrusted by the Black Heaven Sect master to hide a certain precious resource found on the Ascension-level Jiao corpse, which prompted the betrayal of the former in the first place. Right now, he is only thinking of how to get you out of here or kill you so as to maintain this secret.｣
Li Ling's breathing stilled as he read the introductory panel for the fellow who spoke up, and just like in the situation with Luo Roumei, his playful demeanor disappeared. As it was not appropriate to use the Meteor Spell here, even if it was shrunk, he looked to his system and began upgrading a daoist art that had followed him from the very beginning.
The Fireball Technique!
From Advanced, Li Ling increased it to the Expert stage after investing two Slaughter Points, and he could tell that the fireball had increased in quality from something that was the size of a human adult with the physical force of a speeding car and the explosive force of a small missile to one with the force of a large truck and the explosive force of an ICBM.
From Expert, it went to the Master stage where it leapt in power and size, doubling in both regards at the cost of 4 Slaughter Points. Finally, the Perfection stage saw it reach the power of a bunker buster in terms of payload, while its size did not severely increase.
Li Ling did not limit break it because there was no need. He was of the earth element and his daoist arts related to it saw an increase in effectiveness, as compared to the other elements which gained a slight loss. This even affected a metal element spell like the Golden Blockade, so Li Ling would have to replace it with an earth element defensive daoist art later on.
But that was only just one reason. The other reason was that, for the purposes he envisioned, the spell was already powerful enough!
His finger, still outstretched, charged up and released a gigantic ball of flame the size of a human, which charged towards the fellow who rushed at him earlier since he was the closest to Li Ling in terms of proximity.
Seeing this daoist art form and surge towards him, the heat alone causing him to feel intense agony, the Body Foundation cultivator was shocked and terrified. He hurriedly manifested the totality of his Fire Aura to resist the incoming attack while crossing his arms in front of him, hoping that his second realm flesh and Fire Aura could withstand the intense attack.
BOOM!
With an explosion akin to a small warhead, the entire cavern was deeply shaken by the attack, causing waves of heat and physical force in the form of shockwaves to erupt from that point at the center. Even Li Ling had to manifest the Golden Blockade again, his expression becoming strained as the fire element had a superior advantage over the metal element.
However, whatever Li Ling felt, you could be sure that his opponent was feeling even worse. The other four Body Foundation cultivators were farther behind, so they suffered less after manifesting their Fire Aura to resist, only coming off with some mild burns due to the fact that they faced the opposite of the entrance. The surging heat and shockwaves rebounded twice before bleeding outward.
｢System Prompt: You have gained 40 Slaughter Points.｣
When they put their crossed arms down to gaze at their compatriot, all they saw was a burned and charred corpse that looked like it had been overcooked. The corpse was still locked in a posture of defense, the fellow likely owing the fact that he still had a complete corpse to the fact that the Fireball Technique was still at the first realm—though perfected—and that he had a second realm body cultivation.
As for the Fire Aura of the Fire Heart Sect practitioners, it did resist fire element attacks somewhat, but not by much. The Fire Aura they had was tinged with impurities due to the low quality of their technique—compared to something like the Asura Blood Descent—along with their poor and clumsy practice.
It actually did not contribute that much to the defense as one would expect, which was one of the reasons Li Ling chose this over the Meteor Spell.
"No, Junior Brother Wen!" Huo Yang called out with wide eyes, not expecting that his formidable junior brother would die in just one hit.
One should know that among the five, only two were in the mid stage of Body Foundation, one being another Junior Brother at Body Foundation level 6 and this Junior Brother Wen at Body Foundation level 4. The other three were all between Body Foundation level 1 and level 3, still new to the realm.
Li Ling did not give his foes the chance to regroup and plan, pointing out and releasing four fireballs at once, aiming to kill everyone without taking any slaves. As for the hidden resources, he had plenty of ways to dig them out, and that was not even factoring in the presence of Majin One and Majin Two.
But even though he thought this, he still relaxed the fireball towards Huo Yang, only placing 30% of its peak strength within to hold him back. Meanwhile, Li Ling leapt forward into the fray, not fearing the fallout from the powerful exploding fireballs, manifesting the Golden Blockade around himself right from the get-go.
The other four were terrified by Li Ling's cruelty and manifested their attacks. Unlike the cultivator named Wen, they had enough time to take out spirit artifacts or talismans and activate them to enhance their defenses, even striking out with their full power to try and counterattack the incoming force.
Multiple explosions sounded out in the cavern that caused rocks to dislodge and the entire reinforced structure to slowly crumble down. However, none of those within could afford to worry about this as they were engaged in a battle for their fates at the moment.
The three early-stage Body Foundation practitioners stood no chance against the full-powered daoist art powered by perfection-level Azure Yang Magic Power. With tremendous explosions, they couldn't even scream before they were either reduced to ashes or turned into charred corpses, depending on the level of their defenses.
｢System Prompt: You have gained 30 Slaughter Points.｣
｢System Prompt: You have gained 20 Slaughter Points.｣
｢System Prompt: You have gained 20 Slaughter Points.｣
The other Body Foundation level 6 fellow was able to barely survive, but he looked like a person who had been rescued from a burning building, his whole body covered in severe burns that still glowed with heat. Even if the fight were to end at this moment, without proper treatment, he would spend days in agony as the fire poison would consume his lifeforce slowly.
As it were, after weakly lowering his arms and raising his head, all he saw was Li Ling's palm in front of his face, seconds before his entire cranium was smashed into a pulp and sent flying in the form of clumps of blackened blood.
｢System Prompt: You have gained 60 Slaughter Points.｣
Li Ling paused and turned to face the final survivor, Huo Yang himself. The Sect Master of the Fire Heart Sect had rather solidly withstood the fireball that only had one-third of its full power, counterattacking it with his own exquisite martial art that was at the level of Mastery, surprising Li Ling greatly.
This was the first time since he had been reborn into Firmament Heaven that he had seen anyone with a technique above Expert level. Even though it was merely a mortal martial art and was thus almost a hundred times easier to master than even a Qi Refinement daoist art, it still went to show how talented and dedicated this Huo Yang was.
Even though he was over 150 years old, most of that time would be spent cultivating, especially for those with lower talents. Cultivation was a race against time—who had the luxury to spend precious hours contemplating and practicing mortal martial arts? There wasn't even enough time for actual daoist arts, much less these far weaker methods!
Huo Yang saw the results of the battle and his expression became desolate. He had devised this plan to hide the elites of his sect along with the special material he and the Black Heaven Sect's Sect Master had discovered on behalf of the Core Formation realm Ancestor of that sect, thinking that they could make a comeback after they survived this calamity.
But indeed, it was wishful thinking.
Huo Yang deeply regretted it for the first time, wishing he never agreed with Shi Poyun of the Black Heaven Sect to conceal the discovery they made during that expedition. If he had taken the initiative to report to the Six Paths Demon Sect, could he and his sect have been spared this massacre?
But even though his heart was desolate, his body was honest. He turned to face Li Ling with a cold and dignified glare, his thick and robust Fire Aura that was a level above his deceased juniors flaring strongly as he readied himself for battle.
"Asura Warrior of the Six Paths Demon Sect, my name is Huo Yang, Sect Master of the Fire Heart Sect! I hereby declare that only one of us shall survive the next clash!" Huo Yang bellowed with force, charging at Li Ling with another Expert stage movement-related martial art.
Li Ling, partly curious and partly interested, did not dodge but used his spirit sense to easily track the fellow and raise his hand to block the blow of Huo Yang.
CRICK!
Unlike usual though, Li Ling's extremely pure Blood Qi at the peak of the first realm could not withstand the force of his foe's attack since Huo Yang was significantly stronger than his peers, even in the second realm. As such, Li Ling's hand, for the first time, actually bent and cracked under the force of the attack, but the blow was also halted from going forward.
Li Ling, with furrowed brows, took his hand back and reset his dislocated wrist with a grimace, ignoring Huo Yang who hadn't stopped his advance, striking the Golden Blockade continuously.
As this drained Li Ling's Azure Yang Magic Power with each hit, he couldn't afford to be as nonchalant as usual, raising his head after his hand had healed somewhat and glaring at his foe with cold eyes.
"You're not bad, very skilled among low level cultivators. However, it is a pity you ended up meeting me because no matter how much you resist, the outcome will be the same."
After saying this, Li Ling used the Swift Swallow Step to advance and stretch his hand towards Huo Yang's head, aiming to control him as he did the others.